Fall 2024 URC Panel Presentations

Panel Chair: Dr. Joel Bergh, Department of Biology

Ameris Israel-Simmons - CONTROLLED CELL GROWTH: ROOPEROL ANALOGUES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON INHIBITION OF P38

Kaitlyn Costilla - COMPARING IC50 OF TWO HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS IN TARGETING MALIGNANT NEUROBLASTOMA CELL LINE -BE(2)-C

Jadyn Smith - DISCOVERING NOVEL DRUGGABLE TARGETS FOR NEUROBLASTOMA DIFFERENTIATION THERAPY FROM THE HUMAN KINOME

Panel Chair: Dr. Xiaoyu Xue, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Eden Merritt - CHARACTERIZING THE STRUCTURE AND ACTIVITY OF THE LARP6 FROM THE SIMPLE FOUR-CELLED ALGA FOR CHAPERONE AND BINDING

Danielle Nagad - MAXIMIZING RNA YIELD: OPTIMAL PRESERVATION METHODS FOR BOVINE VAGINAL SWABS

Adamari Cabrera - P160A MUTATION OF CONSERVED PROLINES IN LARP6 LA MODULE LINKER HAVE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE RELATIVE ORIENTATION OF THE LA MOTIF AND RRM DOMAINS

Room 308 | 9:00am - 10:30am

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect significantly impacts human-made environments by exacerbating heat-related phenomena such as elevated ambient air temperatures, increased heat index, poor air quality, and mean radiant temperature. My research focuses on Austin, Texas, examining how the UHI effect intensifies these heat phenomena and exploring potential mitigation strategies tailored to the city's unique geography and evolving climate. Through a comprehensive analysis, I've identified the specific ways in which UHI exacerbates the aforementioned heat-related phenomena including the implications for public health and environmental quality. By increasing the amount of impermeable, human-made surfaces throughout Austin such as low-density housing developments, strip malls, and highway expansion coupled with the increased use of fossil fuels used for things like air conditioning and gas-powered vehicles, we are anthropogenically increasing the temperature of our microclimate. All whilst experiencing an increase in the number of triple-digit days since Austin's weather record-keeping began. Additionally, my research addresses environmental justice issues by considering the historical and socio-economic factors that contribute to the unequal distribution of heat impacts across different communities in Austin, specifically those in West Austin versus East Austin. My findings suggest that targeted interventions, such as urban greening, reflective material implementation, and equitable planning practices could enhance the city's resilience to heat and overall sustainability. Specifically, these planning practices could include an increase in shade awnings to reduce building energy consumption and policies that prohibit or severely limit development along our naturally cooling corridor, the Colorado River. Implementing these solutions could help to foster a more heat-resistant, environmentally conscious, and equitable urban environment, benefiting all residents of Austin, Texas.

Supervisor: Eric Sarmiento, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies

Room 310 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Supervisor: Jessica Perrotte, Department of Psychology

Room 310 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

Room 305 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

Room 310 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Panel Chair: Claudia Röschmann, School of Art and Design

Ja'VousAime Varela - INSPIRATION FOR THE COMMUNITY: A HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACH TO HISTORICAL DOWNTOWN SAN MARCOS, TX

Kirstin Boyd-Farmer - MITIGATING THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

Seth Morris - ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS TO IVAR'S RIVER PUB: USING THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR TO IDENTIFY CRUCIAL UNDERLYING FACTORS

Room 308 | 12:30 P.M. - 2:00 P.M.

Influence maximization focuses on identifying a set of k vertices in a network to maximize their combined influence spread under a given diffusion model. Since this problem is NP-hard, many studies have focused on developing efficient approximation algorithms. Among these, the current state-of-the-art algorithms leverage the reverse influence sampling (RIS) technique, which performs a reverse probabilistic breadth-first search and stores the results in reverse reachable sets. A vertex is considered highly influential if it appears in many reverse reachable sets that have not already been covered by more influential vertices. Despite the efforts, they still show limited running time performance and scalability with large real-world networks consisting of millions of vertices and billions of edges, motivating a few recent studies on leveraging graphics processing units (GPUs) to parallelize and accelerate the RIS-based algorithms. While such parallelization significantly reduces running time, it introduces a new challenge due to the limited memory space of GPUs, which must accommodate millions of reverse reachable sets along with the underlying large graph structure. In this work, we propose an efficient approach to reduce memory consumption of GPU-accelerated RIS-based
algorithms. Extensive experimental results show that our approach can save up to more than half of the original memory consumption without affecting the running time performance.

Supervisor: Chul-Ho Lee, Department of Computer Science

Panel Chair: Dr. Kevin Crawford Jenkins, School of Art and Design

Elisa Pedraza Sanchez and Sara Scheidt - ORANGE PEEL PLAYHOUSE

Danielle Pennington - CLASSROOM STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Alejandra Roman - ECHOES OF TOMORROW: ART AND SCIENCE CONVERGE IN CENTRAL TEXAS

Room 305 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Panel Chair: Cathlin Noon, Research Coordinator, IDEA Center

Marienne Duran Henriquez - RECLAIMING HISTORY AND RESISTING GENTRIFICATION: COLECTIVO MORIVIVÍ’S REPRESENTATION OF THE BLACK FEMALE BODY IN PUERTO RICAN MURALS

Room 305 | 2:00pm -3:30pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Megan Haynes, Department of Health and Human Performance

Aidan Brock - YOGA PRACTICE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH HEALTH PROMOTION/HEALTH RISK BEHAVIORS

Natalie Houle - ENERGIZING AGENTS AND THE PERCEIVED EFFICACY AND SAFETY FOR FATIGUE MANAGEMENT AMONG NURSING STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL EXPLORATORY STUDY

Madeline McJilton - THE MOST COMMON CHRONIC HAND AND WRIST INJURIES IMPLICATED BY PC GAMING

Room 305 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Room 310 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Individuals interact with the world within their own lens of diverse experiences, similarly when identifying the emotions of others, the emotion is perceived through a unique lens. Facets of identity such as neurostatus and gender may play a role in emotion identification. Available databases do not take these factors into account and use neurotypical and cisgender individuals as the gold standard, which can lead to biases in research. Literature suggests that individuals recognize emotions through a perspective unique to their experiences. Body language, tone, and facial expression are cues used by neurotypical individuals to identify emotions; literature suggests that neurodivergent individuals struggle reading these cues. However, recent evidence supports the idea that this difficulty in perceiving emotions lies in being a neuro minority. For example, autistic individuals may experience more difficulty identifying emotions when in predominantly neurotypical environments but feel more comfortable and understood when interacting within neurodiverse groups. Similarly, noncisgender individuals, who may face societal expectations around gendered emotional expression, may also perceive and express emotions differently. Because of the intersectionality between neurodivergent and transgender individuals, it is important to address both identities when researching emotion perception. The current study examines emotion identification across neurodiverse and non-cisgender individuals to answer the question: For which emotions do diverse individuals agree? To explore this, diverse research participants analyzed and labeled 208 previously collected videos of de-identified individuals demonstrating the 7 universal emotions (happy, sad, angry, fear, disgust, and surprise). Using Krippendorff’s alpha for statistical analysis to measure interrater reliability, participant responses were analyzed with attention to neurostatus. Participant labels were not categorized as “correct” or “incorrect”, rather agreement was recorded. This study explores the implications of neurostatus and gender in the identification of emotion.

Supervisor: Maria Resendiz, Department of Communication Disorders

Room 305 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Louie Dean Valencia, Department of History

Blair Curley - “THE POWER OF HIDDEN VOICES": UNCOVERING THE UNSEEN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE BY YOUTH IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Ethan Guinn - ABAI’S INFLUENCE ON THE MODERN KAZAKH CULTURAL REVOLUTION

Simon Kinski - TWO BRITISH PERSPECTIVES ON THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Room 305 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Panel Chair: Jordan Morille, Honors College

Victor Luna - STORYBOARD AND MECHANICS OF THE VIDEO GAME: HOPE: THE CHAPTERS OF INSANITY

Brynn Sumers - WHAT IS LOVE: A YA QUEER ROM COM

Kady Waldmann - CONFESSION: AN IMMERSIVE SOUTHERN GOTHIC THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE

Room 310 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Room 305 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

The overall purpose of this study was to speak to students of Nigerian descent and analyze their perspectives on negative stigmas associated with mental health within the Nigerian community. I interviewed six students of Nigerian descent over Zoom, and I asked them to share their general opinions on mental health and to describe what lessons they learned about mental health from their parents. The results suggested a divide between the attitudes of older Nigerian adults and college students of Nigerian descent. Many college students said that they believed that mental health should be discussed more often and mentioned that it is often overlooked or not talked about by their parents and older relatives. These results are in line with the review of literature on mental health attitudes held by Black immigrant populations. I conclude that this generational divide in how Nigerians think about mental health has many factors, including being raised in Nigeria or in the United States, age, and open-mindedness. In the future, I would like to do more research to explicitly ask what can be done to change the perspective of older Nigerians so this community can talk more openly about mental health and therefore get the help that is needed. We conclude that this generational divide in opinions has many factors, such as being raised in Nigeria or abroad, age, and open-mindedness.

Supervisor: Dwonna Goldstone, Department of History

Room 310 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Cancer research is the study of uncontrolled cell growth, often of cells that produce undesired effects to an organism's function. The goal being to identify the molecular formation of protein interaction to alter or halt hazardous effects. P38α and P38β are simply by-products of the kinase cascade done by MAPK14. P38α has the ability to be inhibited when coincided with certain small molecules such as rooperol, a compound derived from a medicinal plant that holds the ability to inhibit the biological functions of P38α without affecting P38β even though they are extremely similar enzymes. Will variability in rooperol analogues successfully distinguish the specificity for the enzyme P38α over P38β regarding inhibition of biological function. Variants of the rooperol molecule will successfully inhibit p38alpha function without inhibiting p38beta function when coexpressed. Alternatively, there will be no reaction from either protein when expressed with rooperol. The experimental process will consist of four main steps that will be repeated as needed for analysis of each protein and its ability to express when engaged with rooperol. Both enzymes will need to be completely purified as well as mkk6 (the protein cascade), rooperol analogues (already completed by the Kerwin lab), and ATFK (the molecule that should be expressed by both p38s if activation occurs). Purification of a protein or molecule is simply deriving it from molecular compounds not needed to exhibit its function. Then, a luminescence kinase assay will be taken from each protein when naturally expressed in order to compare it to experimental expressions. After all components are purified and expressed, the protein cascade will be developed naturally and the various rooperol analogues will be inserted into the cascade alongside rooperol to determine whether inhibition or activation of ATFK takes place.

Supervisor: Karen Lewis, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Room 305 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

Room 305 | 2:00pm -3:30pm

Room 308 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Room 308 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Livestock producers are pressured to increase output while also employing practices that promote animal welfare. Therefore, livestock production systems may benefit from using digital technologies to increase production efficiency and minimize physical handling of animals, which may enhance consumer perceptions of welfare. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to monitor cattle are emerging, but research is limited. Accordingly, our objective was to develop three AI models that leverage Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNN) to predict cattle behavior, movement, and emotion. Groups (n~2-7) of cattle were housed on pastured paddocks and continuously recorded with nine stationary cameras (IACUC #9298). Cattle were heterogenous and rotated to provide robust footage for model development via inter-animal variation. Captured raw rootage (~132 h) was curated, edited into clips of 5-30 seconds using VideoLAN, and labeled with vague descriptions of the activity the cattle displayed. Labeled clips were then annotated using Computer Vision Annotation Tool (CVAT) software by identifying cattle with bounding boxes and labeling them as “bovine”. Specific attributes of “behavior” (e.g., grazing, playing, dominance assertion), “movement” (e.g., walking, standing, lying), and “emotion” (e.g., calm, excitement, curiosity) were added to the bovine label. The computer vision model You Only Look Once (YOLO) was used to identify cattle and classify their behavior, movement, and emotion. Footage was split into segments: images used for training (11,187 frames; 80%), validation (949 frames; 10%), and testing (949 frames; 10%). Validation segments may be refined to improve processing while testing segments will indicate accuracy of predictions. This research is ongoing with an expectation of testing the three validated models in November 2024. Establishing an AI-enabled system to detect deviations from baseline conditions in cattle may enhance livestock production while also enhancing animal welfare through minimizing handling and providing early detections of disease or stress.

Supervisor:  Merritt Drewery, Department of Agricultural Sciences

Room 310 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Room 310 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Room 308 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Traditional diagnostic methods rely heavily on subjective measures, which can be influenced by biases and inconsistencies. This presentation explores a novel approach to understanding ADHD by employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and machine learning with deep learning techniques to analyze the brain’s functional connectivity. Utilizing the ADHD-200 dataset, we conducted ROI-based analyses to compare neural activity patterns between individuals with ADHD and typically developing subjects. Through the application of Computer Vision techniques, we aim to identify distinct neural signatures associated with ADHD. The insights from this research could pave the way for more reliable diagnostic biomarkers and enhance our understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of ADHD. By bridging neuroscience and artificial intelligence, this study contributes to the growing body of research striving to create objective and data-driven approaches to diagnosing ADHD.

Supervisor: Mylene Queiroz de Farias, Department of Computer Science

Room 310 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

Room 308 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Room 310 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Mylene Queiroz de Farias, Department of Computer Science

Alyssa Lopez - DEVELOPING AND VALIDATING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODELS TO PREDICT CATTLE BEHAVIOR, MOVEMENT, AND EMOTION

Thomas Mendoza - DECODING ADHD: LEVERAGING FMRI AND MACHINE

Mckelvey Valenti - FINANCIAL ANALYSIS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ACROSS SECTORS

Panel Chair: 

Ana Hernandez - EMOTION PERCEPTION: DO DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS IDENTIFY EMOTIONS SIMILARLY?

Katie Webb - IMPLEMENTING AN EDUCATIONAL MODULE TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLORE ATTITUDE CHANGES REGARDING IMPLICIT BIAS IN A BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING COURSE

Sampada Niroula - THE INFLUENCE OF SLEEP ON EMOTIONAL MEMORY CONSOLIDATION IN INDIVIDUALS WITH VARYING LEVELS OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

Room 310 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

This study explores how sleep affects emotional memory consolidation in individuals with varying levels of depressive symptoms. Approximately 80 participants will listen to emotionally charged narratives before taking a nap and will recall the details afterward. By comparing memory recall between high and low depressive symptom groups, we aim to assess how depression influences negative memory bias during sleep. Anticipated findings may show that sleep enhances negative bias in those with depression, offering insights into the relationship between sleep, memory, and emotional well-being in depression. These results could help improve interventions targeting sleep and emotional health.

Supervisor: Carmen Westerberg, Department of Psychology

Room 308 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

As honors students in the Theater department at Texas State, we propose to start a non-profit theater company focused on serving the community, particularly in underserved areas with limited access to the arts. Our company, the Orange Peel Playhouse, features a flexible business model that prioritizes demographic outreach over fixed geographic constraints. The mission is to leverage theater as a catalyst for social impact, specifically targeting segments of the community that lack artistic resources. In addition to producing 3-4 shows every season, our company’s growth will unfold in three distinct phases. The developmental phase (phase one), is what will be presented as the capstone outcome and brief outline of phases two and three. By developing programs that involve education in school systems, outreach with women’s centers and incarcerated individuals, it will aim to apply the diverse expertise to effect meaningful change in the community. Elisa has multiple years of theatre leadership experience including directing, stage management and a recent internship as Arts Administration for Impact Arts’ Summer Stock Austin. Sara has several years of arts education experience working with students from elementary, middle, and high school, including a teaching internship at Columbia University. We will utilize these experiences and our knowledge as current and former Co-Managing Producers of a student run theater company at Texas State, as well as our time as interns for similar theater companies across the country. In conclusion, establishing the Orange Peel Playhouse is our approach to enriching the community through the arts. By prioritizing demographic outreach and developing educational and outreach programs, we aim to bridge the gap in access to theater for underserved populations. Our phased strategy will create a continually growing social impact as ultimately, the Orange Peel Playhouse aspires to harness the power of theater as a force for positive change.

Supervisor: Yesenia Garcia Herrington, Department of Theatre and Dance

Room 308 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Martin Burtscher, Department of Computer Science

Jacob Doney - SCALABLE INFLUENCE MAXIMIZATION IN SOCIAL NETWORKS

Mackenzie Toliver - DESIGNING EFFECTIVE DATA COMPRESSION ALGORITHMS FOR SMALL FILES

Xiaoming Wang - A 2D STRATEGY GAME DEVELOPED IN UNITY

Room 308 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

Room 308 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Metal scavenging is critical for maintaining basic metabolic processes in microbial pathogens, particularly at infection sites where microbes may encounter metal-restrictive conditions. To counteract metal-sequestering tactics by animal hosts, microbial pathogens often employ high-affinity transporters or small molecules that are encoded by enzymes for producing opine metallophores. Examples include Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus and their respective staphlopine and pseudopaline metallophores. Our lab has an interest in metal scavenging mechanisms used by microbial pathogens. Pseudogymnoascus destructans, a fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats, as it has been observed to have elevated transcripts of metal-binding proteins at infection sites, suggesting that it is starved for metals during infection of the bat host. We observed the P. destructans transcriptome under metal-restrictive conditions and identified a homologous gene cluster to systems in P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, which we named the Cu-responsive cluster (CRC). We hypothesize that the CRC cluster encodes proteins SAM Transferase (PdSAM) and Opine Dehydrogenase (PdOpDH) that are involved with the production of a fungal-derived opine metallophore similar to pseudopaline and staphlopine. The long-term goal is to understand how the CRC gene cluster participates in metal scavenging. This presentation overviews our efforts to express, purify, and characterize PdSAM and PdOpDH using the E. coli BL21 (DE3) expression system.

Room 305 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

Room 310 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Panel Chair: Dr. Kate Spradley, Department of Anthropology

Jessica Chitwood - HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY AND AGGRIEVED ENTITLEMENT: THE PATH TO RADICALIZATION AMONG VIOLENT INCEL EXTREMISTS

Addison Smith - BEYOND THE BILL: EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT AWARENESS OF ANTI-LGBTQ+ LEGISLATION AND MENTAL HEALTH

Alaska Justice - THE HUMANITARIAN BORDER CRISIS: BURIAL PRACTICES IN DIGNITY OF UNIDENTIFIED DECEASED MIGRANTS ON THE US-MEXICO BORDER AT TRES NORIAS CEMETERY

Room 310 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Room 308 | 12:30 P.M. - 2:00 P.M.

This study analyzes the effectiveness of various data compression algorithms, with a focus on their performance on small files. Compression of small files presents a
challenge for many standard compressors due to their “warming-up period”, which
initially limits the compressors’ effectiveness. The study’s goal is to find the minimum file size above which various compressors become effective. The LC compressor generator is utilized to evaluate a wide range of algorithms based on their performance across diverse datasets. The best-performing algorithms are then compared to modern compressors such as gzip, bzip2, and Zstandard. The results of the comparison provide insights into their relative strengths and weaknesses for small-file compression.

Supervisor:  Martin Burtscher, Department of Computer Science

Panel Chair: Dr. Adetty Ramos Perez de Miles, School of Art and Design

Ariel Ibuaka - A NEW GENERATION: HOW YOUNG NIGERIANS VIEW MENTAL HEALTH

Lucero Hernandez - EXPLORING THE CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT AND AWARENESS OF HISPANIC CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

Asia Estelle - LIMINAL INTIMACIES WITHIN POLITICS OF BLACKNESS

Karen Valdez - MI NIÑEZ NEPANTLERA: THE CULTURAL JOURNEY OF A YOUNG LATINA

Room 305 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Room 308 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Room 308 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Room 308 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Room 305 | 9:00am - 10:30am

This thesis explores the intellectual contributions of Frances E. W. Harper, a 19th-century Black abolitionist, poet, and novelist whose legacy has generally been tied to Black feminist literary scholarship. Though Harper is often recognized for her work in abolitionism, women's rights, and temperance, the analysis of her literary work generally overshadows her intellectual commitment to racial uplift. Through a close analysis of Harpers letters, novels, poems, and speeches, this thesis aims to analyze Harper not just as a writer, but as a foundational thinker on racial uplift, whose vision paralleled the works of W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington later in the century. Throughout her works, Harper advocated for mass education, economic independence, and social assimilation, envisioning that each element would bring Black people closer to equality in post-slavery America. This analysis expands upon prior scholarly works on Harper’s literary efforts and connects them to her life-long commitment for racial uplift and equity.  

Supervisor: James McWilliams, Department of Sociology

Room 310 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Room 310 |2:00pm - 3:30pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Leila Marie Siciliano-Martina, Department of Biology

Emily Vanderworth - MODELING SPECIES-SPECIFIC RESPONSES OF TYPHA TO WATER-LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS IN GREAT LAKES WETLANDS: IMPLICATIONS FOR VEGETATION DYNAMICS

Jennifer Leal - OVIPOSITION BY ASTEROCAMPA BUTTERFLIES ON THEIR HOST PLANTS

Chloe Sasser - EXPRESSION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF METAL SCAVENGING PROTEINS IN PSEUDOGYMNOASCUS DESTRUCTANS

Room 308 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

This project is a 2D strategy game developed in Unity, a popular game engine for creating 2D and 3D games on multiple platforms. The game features a map with nodes representing forts, cities, or similar locations, each connected by a single direct path. Players can send troops to capture other cities, set ambushes along paths, and develop their forts or cities, introducing a dynamic layer of strategy to the gameplay. 

Supervisor: Rodion Podorozhny, Department of Computer Science